Evangelicals are having their own #MeToo moment

From The Washington Post-

Evangelical Protestantism, thank God, is experiencing its own version of a #MeToo moment. 

Paige Patterson — head of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and icon of conservative Baptist belief — is being called out for a story he told in 2000. An abused woman had come to him for counseling. Patterson recommended prayer. Later, the woman returned with two black eyes. In Patterson’s telling: “She said, ‘I hope you’re happy.’ And I said, ‘Yes . . . I’m very happy,’ ” because the woman’s husband had heard her prayers and come to church the next day.

This, presumably, is Patterson’s version of a happy ending: A wife gets battered, but the church gets a new member. God works in misogynist ways. 

A number of prominent Baptists have risen in criticism. Thom Rainer, president of the Christian publishing house LifeWay, tweeted, “There is no type or level of abuse of women that is acceptable.” Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, added: “Any physical abuse on any level is completely unacceptable in marriage. The church should immediately step in & provide a safe place for the abused.”  

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/evangelicals-are-having-their-own-metoo-moment/2018/05/07/e97be51e-5219-11e8-a551-5b648abe29ef_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9ee005701681

Guilty of Spiritual Abuse

From The Living Church-

In what is thought to be a landmark case, a church tribunal has convicted a vicar from Oxfordshire of spiritual abuse.

The Rev. Tim Davis of Abingdon moved into the family home of his victim, engaged in lengthy encounters in his bedroom, and tried to control his behavior. He forbade the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, from seeing his girlfriend. The case is said to be the first of its kind.

Davis was found guilty of misconduct after a tribunal found that his intense mentoring of the boy between 2012 and 2013 amounted to abuse. It found he sought to control the boy’s life and relationships. There were nightly one-to-one, unsupervised mentoring sessions lasting up to two hours in the boy’s bedroom. The boy was between 15 and 16 during those sessions.

More here-

https://livingchurch.org/2018/01/16/guilty-of-spiritual-abuse/

Oxfordshire vicar, Tim Davis, guilty of spiritual abuse against a teenage boy

From The Church Times-

A VICAR in Oxfordshire has been convicted by a church tribunal of spiritually abusing a teenage boy, in what is thought to be the first judgment of its kind. The victim was judged to have been put under “unacceptable pressure” during one-to-one Bible-study sessions in his bedroom over a period of 18 months.

The priest, the Revd Timothy Davis, of Christ Church, Abingdon, was found guilty under the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) 2003 of “conduct unbecoming or inappropriate to the office and work of a clerk in holy orders through the abuse of spiritual power and authority” by a five-strong Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal for the Oxford diocese, chaired by His Honour the Revd Mark Bishop. Its judgment is dated 28 December and was published by the diocese on Monday.

It is thought to be the first CDM tribunal that has found a case to answer over allegations of the abuse of spiritual power and authority. A penalty has not yet been set.

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/12-january/news/uk/oxfordshire-vicar-tim-davis-guilty-of-spiritually-abusing-a-teenage-boy

Australian Cardinal and Aide to Pope Is Charged With Sexual Assault

From The New York Times-

 Australia’s senior Roman Catholic prelate, and one of Pope Francis’ top advisers, has been charged with sexual assault, the police in the Australian state of Victoria said on Thursday.

The prelate, Cardinal George Pell, became the highest-ranking Vatican official in recent years to face criminal charges involving accusations of sexual offenses. The case will test the credibility of Francis’ initiatives to foster greater accountability after abuse scandals that have shaken the church around the world.

“Cardinal Pell has been charged on summons, and he is required to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court” on July 18, Shane Patton, the deputy police commissioner, said at a news conference.

The charges were served on the cardinal’s legal representatives in Melbourne. Commissioner Patton said there were multiple complainants but refused to provide further details about them, including their ages.

More here-

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/28/world/australia/cardinal-george-pell-charged-sexual-abuse.html?smid=fb-share

An unholy mess: Addressing sexual abuse in the Catholic Church

From ABC-

Next week, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference will hold its normal November meeting beside the tomb of St Mary of the Cross, Australia's first saint. It is noteworthy that the bishops will discuss the holy and unholy mess created by the clerical sexual abuse scandal and the forthcoming Royal Commission into the institutional responses to child sexual abuse, as well as the continuing fallout from the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry.

The Church has already lost the public relations war. The evidence of the Victoria Police has made very sure of that by the evidence of their statistics. These show that between January 1956 and June 2012 in their Victorian jurisdiction, of the 519 "distinct victims," 71.29% occurred within the Catholic Church system as compared to the Anglican (7.13%), Salvation Army (6.94%) and Jewish (3.47%) figures - although, of course, these figures do not pertain just to ministers of religion.

More here-

http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/11/21/3637725.htm

Having lived through hell I hope true light is now about to shine

From The Telegraph-

WHEN I saw Prime Minister Julia Gillard on TV announcing there would be a royal commission into child abuse in churches and other institutions I was overwhelmed.

I wept uncontrollably. I became breathless. I walked the floor struggling to breathe, trying to comprehend what I had heard.

It was later I realised it was about time the truth was revealed, perhaps it was time for hope and happiness, not sadness.

I lived in the Church of England North Coast Children's Home in Lismore from 1949 to 1964. Most of those years were full of hatred, bloody brutal floggings, bashings, starvation and sexual abuse. It was a home of hell and fury.

In the time I was there more than 200 innocent children were verbally, physically and sexually assaulted. Fear ruled our lives.

Children were abused, many savagely beaten by the matron, staff and Anglican clergy using belts, electric cords, pony whips and small flexible branches which at times we were ordered to fetch from the backyard.

Unable to do anything, I stood helplessly and watched in fear.

I also watched helplessly as my little mates were violently beaten, screamed at and dragged by the hair to their beds.

More here-

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/having-lived-through-hell-i-hope-true-light-is-now-about-to-shine/story-e6frezz0-1226516861720

Las Vegas priest resigns amid sexual abuse lawsuit

From Las Vegas-

A Las Vegas Episcopal priest resigned from his duties at his church Thursday after his name surfaced in a lawsuit alleging a Missouri monastery covered up sexual abuse by him.

The lawsuit, filed in Missouri by a former choir boy, alleged the Roman Catholic monastery, Conception Abbey, kept secret the boy's 1987 sexual assault by Bede Parry, then a Catholic priest who directed the choir.

Parry, 69, who was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, had been serving as the organist and choir director at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Las Vegas since 2000.

He said he told the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada of his resignation as the Missouri lawsuit became public Thursday morning.

Bishop Dan Edwards, who heads the Nevada diocese, confirmed the resignation and said that because Parry remains a priest, the diocese is investigating internally to determine whether any further action needs to be taken against him.

More here-

http://www.lvrj.com/news/lawsuit-against-missouri-monastery-involves-las-vegas-episcopal-priest-124432963.html?ref=963

U.S. Roman Catholic Church accused of scapegoating homosexuals trying to enter priesthood

From The Daily Mail-

Trainee priests are being grilled about their sexual experiences under tough procedures designed to stamp out child abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.

They are being confronted with a list of shockingly intimate questions from psychologists paid by Church officials in the U.S. to try tosimon weed out men who they think could go on to commit sexual assaults.

The questions include: 'When did you last have sex?', 'What kind of sexual experiences have you had?', 'Do you like pornography?', 'Do you like children?' and 'Do you like children more than you like people your own age?'

The process has led to accusations of 'scapegoating' and 'witch-hunts' by gay rights groups.
Men training to be priests are also asked detailed questions about their sexual fantasies, the reasons why any earlier romantic relationships failed and the nature of their relationships with their parents.

They are being routinely tested for HIV/Aids and made to sit exams to test such conditions as depression, paranoia and 'gender confusion' in an attempt to search for clues about possible deficiencies in their character.

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1282913/U-S-Roman-Catholic-Church-accused-scapegoating-homosexuals-trying-enter-priesthood.html#ixzz0pgpFFPH4